Notebook Keychains (A Rant)

In my experience, mini notebook keychains are adorable as keychains but useless as notebooks. The one time I tried actually writing something in a keychain notebook, the stress on the binding that resulted from holding the notebook open caused the pages to separate from the spine. I think the problem was in the design. With most of the notebook keychains I've come across, the pages are glued inside the spine, rather than being sewn with string or spiral bound with wire. This is probably the most cost effective option for manufacturing notebook keychains, but as I said before it makes the end products more or less useless for writing in.

There are a lot of people who like to carry a small notebook around with them, tucked into their bag or purse. Writers, scrapbookers, and other creative types like to have somewhere to jot down quotes and other inspiration before their next big idea slips their minds. Busy working professionals will keep a small notebook handy to write out a quick to-do list or copy down contact information. In theory, having the notebook on a keychain would be convenient and would save on space. But what good is a notebook that you can't actually write in without it falling apart?

As I said before, I found out about the fragile nature of notebook keychains the hard way.

I can't remember exactly where I got the keychain pictured above, but I most likely bought it second-hand. It was made by Applause, and the Disney fan in me was probably drawn to the Piglet design on the front cover. Around the same time that I started using my scrapbooking and papercrafting supplies to create personalized artwork for my photo keychains, I got the idea to try 'scrapbooking' my notebook keychains as well. I decided to turn this Piglet keychain into an A.A. Milne quote book. (Milne was the author of the original Winnie The Pooh stories.) My plan was to use stamping, as well as a package of tiny, Winnie The Pooh themed stickers, to decorate the project.

As you can see from the photo above, I did get one quote into the book. However the block of pages separated from the spine before I'd even completed what you see in the picture. I decided to finish the pages I'd started, before gluing the notebook back together with strong craft adhesive. However, after that I admitted defeat. I didn't even attempt to design any more pages because I didn't want to risk the book falling apart again.

I think the pages I was able to complete turned out really well, and I'm still disappointed that I wasn't able to do more with this project. I'm also disappointed because I was looking forward to customizing the rest of my notebook keychains. But that particular project will likely be put on hold indefinitely. After all, who wants to put time and effort into something if it's just going to fall apart?

Okay, done ranting for now.

Signed, Treesa